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Cate Blanchett on Motherhood and Her Morning Routine

Cate Blanchett understands how important it is to strive for a work/life balance. But she doesn't pretend that it's easy or always achievable—especially as a working mom. "I usually start anywhere between 6 and 6:30am," she tells The New York Magazine about her morning routine. "I would love to say it's because I go and have a run, but it's because the baby wakes up and the kids wake up and I need to get them to school. I might get to exercise one time a week, but it usually involves a snatched cup of coffee, making children's lunches, changing out of my pajamas, feeding the dog, having a glass of hot water with lemon, and running out the door." That sounds like a very familiar situation to us.

When Blanchett does get a chance to sweat it out, she turns to Pilates. "I feel like it's made for actor's bodies." The stunning, yet refreshingly human actress is also highly aware of her diet, which she and her husband have adopted in support of their 11-year-old son. "Recently, because of a gut issue with my son, we had to take him completely off sugar, wheat, dairy, and all processed foods. I was doing that with him along with my husband, and you realize how difficult it is to buy foods that don't have hidden ingredients, like sugar. You need reading glasses when you shop, or if you can afford it, shop at a macrobiotic store."

While Blanchett clearly understands the value of a healthy lifestyle, she isn't blown away by the "wellness" trend that's sweeping over the globe. "Wellness is an invented term," she muses. "'Wellness' isn't a term I use; I feel like it's a marketing term."

Blanchett does subscribe to the idea of mindfulness. Her general health advice is about decluttering your space so you have room to think: "It's all about divesting yourself of all these things that we think we need but we don't. We're in the process of moving house, and it's a real gift, in a way, because you shed and you give things to other people."